Transfer instrument



Jan. 23, 1940. A. WIGLEY TRANSFER INSTRUMENT Filed Jan. 23, 1939 Inventor fir! h zu' l Ti gley,

Patented Jan. 23, 1940 'A l lication January 23, 1939, Serial N 252,489 In Great Britain December 30, 1937 2 Claims.

This invention is for a transfer instrument for use in knitting machines, and an object thereof is to provide an instrument (particularly a needle) so shaped as to facilitate transfer of a loop formed over or by it to a needle or instrument of an opposed bed. The invention is applicable to latch needles and to bearded needles.

Thisinvention provides a transfer instrument for use in a knitting machine, comprising a shank or'stem having at an intermediate position in its length a laterally deflected lip at one edge thereof and a loop-arresting shoulder or notch on or in said edge at a location substantially coincident with said lip whereby a loop moved along the stem passes onto the lip and is thereby distended or spread sideways and is arrested in that position by the shoulder or notchs In the application of the invention to a hooked knitting needle the lip and shoulder are located beyond the position normally occupied by a cleared loop. That is to say, in the case of a latch needle, beyond the position occupied by the spoon of the latch when open and, in the case of a spring or bearded 35 needle, beyond the tip of the beard.

In order that the invention may be better understood it will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawingas applied to a latch needle. In the said drawing Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a side elevation and a plan of the needle.

A short distance beyond the position occupied by the spoon Ha of the latch II when open, the material of the needle I0 is at its frontedge locally bent sideways: by the front edge is meant that edge towards which the hook is directed and which, if the needle is inserted in a dial is located uppermost (and is in fact shown uppermost in Fig. 1). This bulge or lip 52 is most severe at the front edge of the needle stem and tapers to nothing as the back edge is approached. At the front edge of the said bulge a shoulder I 3 is formed so that if a loop is cleared over the latch A onto the bulge l2 said loop is distended by the bulge but is prevented by the shoulder from further movement along the needle stem.

Assuming for the sake of convenience of description that the needle is horizontal and that the front edge is uppermost, at the commencement of the bulge l2 the front edge inclines upwards, away from the hook, until the shoulder l3 (which is located approximately half way along the bulge) is reached. The upwardly directed edge of the shoulder may be inclined slightly, say

at an angle of 70 towards the hook, as is shown in Fig. 1. n

In that side of the needle stem which is bulged outwards a groove 14 is-formed, which groove I4 is in the main at the remote side of the bulge I2 and shoulder l3 from the hook. The general direction of this groove I4 is advantageously upwards and away from the hook, say at an angle of 57, so that, while at the lower edge of the needle that edge of the groove which is nearest to the hook lies at the hook side of the shoulder l3, near the top edge of the needle said edge of the groove is farther from the hook than is the shoulder. The depth to which said groove is cut into the needle varies also, from nothing near the top edge of the needle to a maximum at the bottom edge, the angle being advantageously 75 to the general plane in which the needle lies.

The general configuration of the needle may best be described by giving dimensions, it being understood that these dimensions are given by way of example only. Assuming that the needle stem is .030" thick, the depth of said stem below rs P TENToF-FIc-Ejf the latch may be .039" from the front edge to the rear edge. At the bulge l2, however, said depth increases to approximately .075" at the base of the shoulder l3. Beyond the shoulder I3 the total depth is .105" so that the shoulder is approximately .030 deep. The bulge I2 is some .025. The width 14 of the grooveis approximately .187, and at the rear or bottom edge of the needle it is out into the shank to a depth of .023" and tapers in depth upwards, so that it runs out some .020 below the front or top edge of the needle.

Attention is directed to the fact that the instrument or needle illustrated is of the type formed by being stamped out or pressed out roughly to shape from sheet material and conveniently described as being blanked out, or as a plate needle or instrument.

The configuration of the transfer instrument or needle herein described permits said needle to be mounted, in a bed, directly or substantially directly opposite the needle, in an opposed bed, that is to receive a loop from it. Thus assuming that the instrument has a loop thereon, in advance of the shoulder l3, (which loop may extend between needles in an opposed needle bed) if the instrument is projected (in the case of a needle, to an extent desirably somewhat greater than is usual in clearing a loop thereon) the loop is passed onto the lip l2 and is thereby bulged sideways and, being also caught by the shoulder I3, is tensioned outwards. This permits a needle, mounted in the opposed bed substantially directly opposite the transfer instrument, to be projected up through groove l4 into the loop, and if the instrument is then retracted the said loop is left on the opposed needle.

I claim:

1. A transfer instrument for use in a knitting machine, comprising a strip-like stem having the material thereof at one edge bulged sideways locally at an intermediate point in its length, a shoulder at said edge on the bulged part, which shoulder is placed to prevent a loop cleared along the stem from one end thereof passing beyond the bulge, and a groove in that flank of the stem whereat thematerial is bulged sideways, which groove tapers in depth as measured in the direction of the thickness of the stem from a minimum adjacent to the first said edge to a maximum at the other edge, and which groove lies in part nearer to said one end than does the shoulder.

2. A transfer instrument for use in a knitting machine, comprising a one-piece stem of substantially rectangular cross section, one longitudinal edge thereof being provided intermediate its ends with a laterally extending loop-spreading bulge which tapers toward and disappears adjacent the opposite edge of the stem, said first edge being provided with a loop-retaining catch adjacent the bulge, which catch is positioned to prevent a loop cleared along the stem from passing beyond the bulge, and the face of the stem from which the bulge projects being provided adjacent the bulge with a needle receiving recess which decreases in depth from the second mentioned stem edge toward the first mentioned edge.

ARTHUR WIGLEY. 

